US Drivers Waste $155 Billion Dollars A Year Idling in Traffic

When a vehicle is left idling, it can consume one gallon of gas each hour. “Traffic congestion costs the U.S. economy upwards of $155 billion dollars annually,” said Kleiner Perkins partner Michael Linse in a statement. “Last year alone, U.S. drivers wasted 3.9 billion gallons of fuel sitting idle in traffic, and the U.S. is a small part of a much larger and growing global traffic problem.”

No one likes wasting time and money sitting in traffic. Sometimes it is unavoidable, but sometimes it isn’t. With today’s high cost of fuel and the growing awareness of our need to protect our planet, the amount of idling vehicles must be reduced. Drivers can and should be doing something.

A GPS navigation system with real-time traffic updates such as FieldLogix can absolutely help to reduce the time and money drivers waste sitting in traffic. Reducing idling time by only 15 minutes a day can reduce fuel use by over $84 per year. If you reduce idling time by 60 minutes a day, it would result in a fuel savings of 90 gallons at a cost of over $339 per year. These numbers are for fuel consumption costs only, it does not account for the extra repairs and maintenance cost that arise from excessive idling.

For drivers that are on the road frequently, they should use a GPS navigation system. If their GPS system does not have real-time traffic updates, then they should use their smartphone to go online and regularly check traffic updates before each stop on their journey.

For the casual driver, there is an app that can help called Waze. Waze is a social mobile application providing free turn-by-turn navigation based on the live conditions of the road.

For people that drive for work, a fleet GPS navigation system can certainly help. Fleet GPS is a more feature-rich navigation system that is uniquely positioned to help improve the efficiency of our cars in ways that reduce fuel consumption and improve sustainability for all.

When gas prices are rising, investing in a fleet GPS system makes more sense than ever. For a fleet of 25 vehicles, idling time reduced by only 15 minutes per day can result in fuel savings of 562.5 gallons at a cost of about $2,031 per year at current gas prices. If you reduce idling time by 60 minutes, it would result in a fuel savings of 2,250 gallons at a cost of over $8,123 per year!

Unlike a lot of things we know we are supposed to be doing but can’t because they cost to much, or the technology isn’t there yet, a fleet GPS system can immediately stop excess idling, and can pay for itself with reduced idling alone.